Sales and operations planning (S&OP)

The goal of S&OP is to align sales and operations teams. Vanguard Predictive Planning™ is an IBP platform specifically designed for S&OP.

Vanguard Predictive Planning™ for S&OP

Work towards a common set of goals measured by predefined metrics that are fed by real-time integrated plans. This real-time aspect of Vanguard Predictive Planning for S&OP allows organizations to balance demand with supply and capacity, evaluate probabilistic-based plans with tradeoffs, and track performance.

Vanguard helps you achieve higher and more reliable revenues, improved margins, and increased profitability. Non-technical business users can apply advanced analytics, including Monte Carlo simulation, to discover the best possible outcome among competing courses of action.

Featured resources

Solution brochure

Sales and operations planning

read more

White paper

Advanced analytics forecasting

read more

White paper

Portfolio review to full S&OP

read more

Unified IBP platform
Powered by a true unified platform, Vanguard Predictive Planning allows S&OP users to see, in real-time, how changes trickle down from the sales forecast to the supply chain and all the way to the cashflow statement and monetized forecast, with error monetization. Should finance or the inventory team wish to run their own scenarios, it is no problem – each team can run their own scenarios with their own assumptions.

Configurable S&OP workflows
S&OP is a living process with many workflows and sub-workflows. Therefore, organizations need a solution that offers flexible, advanced workflow and collaboration abilities.

Vanguard Predictive Planning™ does just that. With intuitive, easy-to-configure workflows, automating and implementing your pre-S&OP and S&OP business process with workflows is a snap. As your process matures, you can modify your workflows in a few clicks.

Probability-based financial projections
The end result of S&OP meetings comes down to dollars and cents. One reason that many S&OP initiatives are not as successful as they could be is that they do not account for the probabilities of certain scenarios or drivers.

This is where Vanguard Predictive Planning increases the value of your S&OP process. Through an integrated Monte Carlo simulation engine, Vanguard Predictive Planning leverages all of the value of probability-based planning and risk management for the S&OP process.

Advanced reporting and visualizations
Many organizations leverage charts and reports as part of their pre-S&OP preparation and S&OP review. This is usually a business intelligence (BI) activity.

With Vanguard Predictive Planning, you do not need a third-party BI solution. The platform includes an advanced BI and visualization capability that enables end-users to create their own charts, reports, and dashboards. Additionally, S&OP best practice reports are pre-built to increase your return on investment.

What our clients have to say

Joachim Schwarzkopf MBA, PhD
Senior Portfolio Manager, Novartis – Vaccines & Diagnostics

"We are making strategic decisions that have long-term impacts on our business. Without Vanguard, we would not have the visibility and analysis we need to make the right decisions."

Read Case Study

Ana Rodriguez
Director, Enterprise Applications and Integrations

"Vanguard has enabled Skullcandy to be more automated and calculated with our Demand Planning. The usability and thorough on-boarding and configuration process offered by Vanguard enabled us to completely migrate from our historical software very quickly"

Brent Phillips
Director of Demand Planning at Traeger Grills

“Our team selected Vanguard Software because we believe they are the best solution for our current demand planning needs and future supply planning needs.”

Renee Thomas Jacobs
CEO, Buy Auto Parts

"From the first time we loaded our data into Vanguard, we've been happy with the results. Between heightening our understanding of sales cycle curves, the immense flexibility, and responsiveness of the platform, and providing a single view of all items and categories, we've had a very positive experience."

Read Case Study

Jim Cafferty
Lead Evaluator for Winzer

“One vendor stood head and shoulders above the others through the process — Vanguard Software. Vanguard consistently worked harder and provided more tangible, high-quality data and answers to questions than any other competitor.”

Read Case Study

Vijay Ramadoss
IT Technical & Management Expert

"Vanguard is really easy to use and allows you to quickly pull demand data to use to support the business. Vanguard’s staff is always willing to help out with any question/concern I have about the system/information. Vanguard’s onsite training was extremely beneficial to help learn the tricks of the tool."

Geoffrey Taylor
Logistics and Inventory Manager, AFT Pharmaceuticals

"We looked for a software which could deliver the necessary requirement for our business and allows for customization. Vanguard has that capability and proven to be a reliable software, with a good supporting team behind it."

Cameron Yee
Business Analytics Manager, Buy Auto Parts

"After reviewing five different forecast systems, Vanguard excelled in all our requirements. Vanguard has great visualization and interface tools to assist with Ad-hoc and strategic analysis. The ability to measure statistical forecast accuracy greatly adds merit to the competency of the system. What really sold us was the exceptional customer service support to maximize the full potential of the software."

Read Case Study

David White
Business Intelligence Manager, Endeavour

"After the initial Pre Sales demonstrations to our prospects, the most common statement is not whether they wanted to go ahead, it is when should we start the trial."

Ewelina Piasecka
Demand Planning Manager, Sensata Technologies

"Vanguard brought massive, positive improvements to purchasing, confidence, and stock reduction. Their system helped us stabilize production. That saved us money, but it also enabled us to grow the business more sustainably. Instead of managing spikes in demand, we achieved much greater stability in production scheduling and fulfillment."

Curt Mason
Financial Analyst, Francesca's

"We use Vanguard to effectively create and distribute sales plans to our field leadership to help them manage their business units."

Dave Palew
Director of Supply Chain, Aurobindo Pharma USA

"At its core, Vanguard Forecast Server is a user-friendly forecast generator with powerful analytical tools and easy-to-read reports. As users become more adept with the system, their ability to manage and manipulate forecasts increases tremendously. The results are consistently more accurate forecasts, time and again, and better forecast accuracy leads directly to a better bottom line for our business."

Read Case Study

Marcia Ferrill
Assistant Director, Planning and Development – Kansas Department of Transportation

"Vanguard's forecasting process makes us so much more effective as an agency, especially when every dollar really counts."

Read Case Study

Patty Thompson
Sr. Accountant, SDOT

"South Dakota DOT had heard from another State DOT about how they forecast their cash, and because we had been looking for that type of system, we spoke with that agency and decided to inquire about getting a similar system tweaked to fit our needs."

Tim Oligmueller
Director of Business Intelligence, Keen Footwear

"The reason I chose Vanguard was the quality of the pre-sales support and assistance in setting up a proof of concept with our actual data. While functionality was similar between all the choices your team and immediate sales support are what closed the deal."

Chris Patterson
Demand Planning Manager, Natrol

"Vanguard is a premier forecasting tool for businesses of all sizes. The data flexibility, reporting tools, continuous support is why we chose Vanguard over other software solutions."

Carl Turner
Vice President of Supply Chain, Mayne Pharma

"Our company grew rapidly with the acquisition of a large number of products that more than doubled our SKU (stock-keeping units) base. We were implementing a robust Sales and Operations (S&OP) process and needed a tool to assist our team in forecasting demand. We evaluated multiple solutions and continued to return to Vanguard based on their solution and the quality of their design and support team. Since implementing Vanguard we have seen a substantial improvement in our forward-looking forecast as measured by our Mean Absolute Percentage Error. We are confident we made the right selection in choosing Vanguard."

Meet a few of our clients

Subscribe to our blog

Never miss industry news, technical information, or thought leadership articles.

5000 Centregreen Way

Cary, NC 27513

info@vanguardsw.com

SALES

919.859.4101 (P)

919.851.9457 (F)

SUPPORT

919.859.4101 (P)

support@vanguardsw.com

CAREERS

opportunities@vanguardsw.com

SOLUTIONS

Supply Chain Planning

Finance

Workforce

IT

Advanced Analytics

INDUSTRIES

Pharmaceuticals

Manufacturing

Spare Parts

Retail

CPG

Food & Beverage

RESOURCES

Resource Library

Blog

Press Releases

Partners

Forecasting 101

PLATFORM

Vanguard Predictive Planning™

ABOUT

About us

Contact us

© 2021 Vanguard Software Corporation. All Rights Reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy